B.C. organizations deliver food donations to Indigenous communities after floods

A mudslide on Highway 7 is seen near Agassiz, B.C., on Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021. (Jennifer Gauthier / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Organizations in British Columbia are rallying together to deliver food to Indigenous communities affected by flooding and landslides last month.

The sustainability manager for SPUD, a B.C. grocery delivery service, says the company was inspired to donate after severe storms washed out transportation routes and damaged many of their vendor's farms.

Helena McShane says they collected donations from customers and partnered with the United Way and the non-profit Chilliwack Bowls of Hope Society to make deliveries in communities that need help.

She says their next shipment of 1,000 pounds of food will be delivered to Seabird Island First Nation in Agassiz on Monday.

United Way representative Kim Winchell says Seabird Island was chosen because rural and remote Indigenous communities have been “greatly impacted” by flooding and wildfires in B.C. this year.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief RoseAnne Archibald toured some of the flooded areas on Thursday and said she was struck by the impacts on the landscape and on First Nations communities.

Archibald said she would like to see a quicker response from the federal government to help Indigenous Peoples in future environmental disasters.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 10, 2021.

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.